7 Simple Tips for Making Performance Management Really, Really Simple

Gotcha with the headline, didn’t I? Wouldn’t it be just wonderful if I really could help you make performance management simple?

Actually I can, but not with words, with tips and tricks, or with hope and a prayer.

It will only happen with hard work, a well-designed program, leaders who are skilled and accountable for developing talent and delivering performance, and ultimately measuring whether the program achieved improved performance and higher levels of talent.

Focusing on the foundations

So my headline is a little misleading, but I’ve been watching how many articles and posts are headlined with “X tips for something,” and they are very popular. So I wrote one a week ago and my readership skyrocketed. I was musing about what that says about us (us, because I love the “X tips” too.)

I may get myself into trouble here, but I think the “X tips to something” articles present good information but lack focus on the foundations that must be in place in order for any program or process to produce the desired results. Those foundations are things like hard work, alignment, knowledgeable design, careful implementation, sound measurement and continuous improvement.

It’s like an inspirational speaker – you get excited and energized and then go back to business as usual and nothing changes.

Are we looking for the proverbial silver bullet?

This is not new, this quest for silver bullets and inspiration rather than hard, foundational work. But look around; are today’s leaders skilled and accountable? (And I won’t say anything about our government leaders.)

There are millions of programs on the market today, made even more accessible because of technology and social media. Are they good programs? Can they work as promised? Possibly.

But if the those programs lead you to believe it won’t be hard work, and neglect telling you about the foundational work that has to be accomplished in order for the program to work, they’re selling you an outdoor pool in Iceland — and the pool won’t be really useable until there is structure built to allow its use.

I do have the promised seven (7) tips, so here they are (does anyone know why seven seems to be the most popular number?)

1. Figure out the end game

Be very clear and very intentional about what you are trying to accomplish.

Do you want to buy a program, or do you want to improve performance? Only when you are clear on the purpose and expectation can you measure results.

3. Start small and grow

Building a strong foundation takes time, but without it, the program will collapse.

Start with the basics, educate participants, evaluate results, and build over time.

4. Develop the skills of your employees

Performance management should be a two-way dialogue, but if employees are not involved, are not empowered to challenge and be active in their performance and development, we are where we are today….a very ineffective process.

Set the expectation of active participation and teach them how. They will help to hold leaders accountable.

5. Develop the skills of your leaders

I really don’t mean hold a class.I mean set clear expectations about improved performance and talent development, and hold them accountable for doing this well.

You are fighting two elements here.First, it is a difficult thing to do. Second, it takes practice.

New or unpracticed leaders will not start out as skilled performance managers. They need multiple learning opportunities to practice and receive feedback.

6. Involve the “next level up” leader

Here’s where accountability gets real. If the next level leader doesn’t observe their subordinate leaders providing performance and development feedback, how do they know the quality?

Next level leaders need to be involved in the process of holding leaders accountable. There are many ways to do so, but they need to be involved.

7. Measure the program results

If you did a good job of defining the end result, it should be no problem looking at data and evaluating the program effectiveness.

It isn’t about how many reviews are done. It is about whether performance improves, and talent grows.

8. Wrapping it up

I am very skeptical about programs that take the manager off the hook for this critical leadership role by circumventing the basic element of managing performance and developing talent.

A good leader will observe, will gain insight from peers and customers, will actively involve the employee, and will provide useful feedback to improve performance and develop talent. But it is the leaders role to talk about performance and development with employees.

Carol Anderson is a Principal with Anderson Performance Partners a boutique consulting firm with the mission of helping the HR profession be as valuable to their clients as possible, intersecting performance and learning to actually drive organizational results. She has held HR leadership roles in health care, financial services, retail and the military. Most recently she served as Chief Learning Officer for a large health care system in Central Florida, with responsibility for talent development, leadership, professional and clinical education and team member engagement. Contact her at carol@andersonperformancepartners.com.

So, it all comes back to acountability, at all levels. Why can’t we remember this, every day?

Carol MacDonald Anderson

Hi Emily, good question, but my guess is that it is one of the more difficult activities for a leader to execute. Thanks for the comment.

Competency Toolkit

Great tips, Carol. What do you think of competency-based performance management? We believe (and not just because it’s our business) competency-based performance is so much more specific and actionable which makes things simple!